Wilson Igbinovia on Thursday took a giant step towards achieving his dream of claiming a second consecutive title at a tennis open championship.
This was after the tournament’s third seed overcame a strong opposition in Ikechukwu Iloputa, beating him in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals of the CBN Senior Open Tennis Championship in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Igbinovia had pulled a stunning comeback against Peter Lawal to emerge winner in the Men’s Singles event of the just-concluded 2nd DavNotch Open Tennis Championship in Abuja.
It was a case of being third time lucky for the 18-year-old Igbinovia, who tried but failed on two consecutive occasions to win a major tournament after qualifying for the finals.
Igbinovia, arguably Nigeria’s hottest junior player at the moment, narrowly lost 7-5, 6-3 to Joseph Imeh in the Dala Hard Court tennis championship final in Kano in Nov. 2021.
He also was unlucky in the inaugural Jome National Senior Open Tennis Championship at the Sam Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, losing 7-6, 6-4 to Henry Atseye in the final.
Igbinovia told NAN after his quarterfinals match that he is hopeful of going all the way to the final for a chance to win a second title in a row.
“I am just a step closer now to achieving my dreams of adding another title to the first which I won a couple of days ago.
“It is not going to be easy as I know my next opponent (Henry Atseye) in the semifinals will be a very tough nut to crack, but I am hopeful of crossing that bridge when the time comes,” he said.
Results of other quarterfinal matches also played on Thursday saw Atseye dismiss Friday Gabriel 6-0, 6-0 in two quick straight sets to set up an explosive semifinals encounter against Igbinovia.
Tournament’s fourth seed Nonso Madueke defeated 10th seed Godsgift Timibra 6-3, 6-2 to set up an interesting clash against 13th seed Philip Abayomi.
Abayomi had to overcome an early scare after losing the first set to seventh seed Oche Adehi. He, however, pulled a stunning comeback to win 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 at the end of a grueling encounter.
And in the women’s singles, tournament’s number one seed, Marylove Edwards, swept past Blessing Samuel 6-3, 6-1 to set up a mouth-watering semifinals encounter against number three seed Oyinlomo Quadre.
To qualify, Quadre dismissed Rebecca Ekpeyong in two quick straight sets 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
Also, number two seed, Aanu Aiyegbusi, thrashed Toyin Asogba 6-2, 6-3 to set a semifinals match-up against hard-fighting Ohunene Yakubu who earlier defeated Stella Udokwelu 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 at the end of an energy-sapping encounter.
The 44th edition of the CBN Senior Tennis Tourney which served off on Monday with Round One fixtures at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium is expected to end on Saturday. (NAN)
